Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2016 Feb 9:5:e14169.
doi: 10.7554/eLife.14169.

Phototaxis: Life in focus

Carol Dieckmann  1 , Telsa Mittelmeier  1
Affiliations
Comment

Phototaxis: Life in focus

Carol Dieckmann et al. Elife. .

Abstract

Single-celled photosynthetic bacteria determine the direction of incoming light by acting as lenses.

Keywords: Cyanobacteria; Micro-optics; Phototaxis; Signal transduction; Synechocystis sp PCC6803; Thermosynechococcus elongatus; biophysics; infectious disease; microbiology; structural biology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Single-celled photosynthetic bacteria acting as lenses.
Schuergers et al. illuminated Synechocystis cells on an agar surface with a light source from the direction marked with a red arrow. Each cell, acting as a lens, focused the light on the rear edge of the cell (white arrows), and moved toward the light. A strong laser light from above (red circle in center), caused cells entering the small laser-illuminated area on the agar to reverse direction. (See figure 4 in Schuergers et al., 2016 for full details).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

  • Cyanobacteria use micro-optics to sense light direction.
    Schuergers N, Lenn T, Kampmann R, Meissner MV, Esteves T, Temerinac-Ott M, Korvink JG, Lowe AR, Mullineaux CW, Wilde A. Schuergers N, et al. Elife. 2016 Feb 9;5:e12620. doi: 10.7554/eLife.12620. Elife. 2016. PMID: 26858197 Free PMC article.

References

    1. Foster KW, Smyth RD. Light antennas in phototactic algae. Microbiological Reviews. 1980;44:572–630. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gualtieri P. Morphology of photoreceptor systems in microalgae. Micron. 2001;32:411–426. doi: 10.1016/S0968-4328(00)00016-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Holmes JA, Dutcher SK. Cellular asymmetry in chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Journal of Cell Science. 1989;94:273–285. - PubMed
    1. Kamiya R, Witman GB. Submicromolar levels of calcium control the balance of beating between the two flagella in demembranated models of Chlamydomonas. Journal of Cell Biology. 1984;98:97–107. doi: 10.1083/jcb.98.1.97. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kawai K, Kreimer G. Sensory mechanisms: phototaxes and light perception in algae. In: Leadbetter BSC, Green JC, editors. Flagellates: unity, diversity and evolution. Boca Raton: CRC Press. ; 2000. pp. p 124–145.

LinkOut - more resources